Carmen Electra

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[i][b]Carmen Electra[/b][/i], née [b]Tara Leigh Patrick[/b] (b. 20 April 1972, Sharonville, Ohio) is an American dancer, actress, nude/erotica model, TV personality, and pop singer/rapper. She began in 1992 as a protégée of [b][a=Prince][/b], with a short career disrupted after Carmen's debut [url=/master/190315]self-titled album[/url] on [l=Paisley Park], his "vanity" label at [l=Warner Bros. Records], turned into a major commercial and critical failure. Electra came to nationwide acclaim as one of the late-90s' m…

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Carmen Electra, née Tara Leigh Patrick (b. 20 April 1972, Sharonville, Ohio) is an American dancer, actress, nude/erotica model, TV personality, and pop singer/rapper. She began in 1992 as a protégée of Prince, with a short career disrupted after Carmen's debut self-titled album on Paisley Park, his "vanity" label at Warner Bros. Records, turned into a major commercial and critical failure. Electra came to nationwide acclaim as one of the late-90s' most recognisable "sex symbols," modelling nude for Playboy and other 18+ periodicals, like Hustler Magazine, Maxim, and FHM calendars, and co-starring in the 728294 TV series. In the early 2000s, she extensively collaborated as a stage dancer with The Pussycat Dolls, appearing at the May 2002 live residency staged by Robin Antin at The Roxy in Los Angeles, for instance, and VH1 "Divas" in 2004. Carmen Electra appeared in several music videos by PSD and other popular artists (see the list below), and had countless minor roles and "celebrity cameos" in Hollywood parodies and exploitation comedies. She became the all-time Golden Raspberry Awards champion, first nominated in 2004 as the "Worst Supporting Actress" for Starsky & Hutch and earning five Razzie nominations in a consecutive streak; she won in 2006 both for David Zucker's Scary Movie 4 and the 9003843. Carmen Electra dated B-Real of Cypress Hill (1994–1997) and was married twice, to NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman (November 1998 – April 1999), and Jane's Addiction lead guitarist Dave Navarro (November 2003 – February 2007), also engaged to ex-guitarist of Otep and Filter, Rob Patterson (April 2008 to 2012).

Born and raised in a musical family, Tara Patrick studied choreography and choir singing from her early childhood, later attending one of Ohio's public "magnet" schools for gifted children, the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in Cincinnati. In March 1990, eighteen-year-old Tara first met Prince in Los Angeles, at the audition for an "all-girls" band for Robin Power. (One of Prince's latest romantic flings, a Chicago-born actress and singer who had just starred in his 22447 film.) Curiously, Tara Patrick didn't pass the tryouts; Prince instead abandoned the "Robin Power & Uptown Dames" project altogether and offered Carmen a solo record deal at Paisley Park Records. (Reportedly, Prince came up with her stage moniker on the whim, at the very first audition, and the actress continued using it since then. In February 2024, Tara L. Patrick legally changed her name to Carmen Electra.)

Prince began developing her album in early 1991, even recycling some of Power's material, like her "Robin On Top" demo, which transmorphed into Carmen On Top with overdubbed vocals. (The track was excluded from the subsequent album. Most ironically, Prince once again pulled the same tape from the vault for his next love interest and future wife, Mayte, during mid-September 1993 studio tryouts for her debut album.) Meanwhile, the 134908 song was destined at first for Anna Fantastic, née Garcia, yet another consort and one of the Paisley Park "sex idol" contenders before Prince discovered Carmen. The production team featured his typical collaborators and co-authors at the time: Tony M. and Levi Seacer Jr., Damon Dickson and Kirk Johnson of Game Boyz, other NPG bandmates, like Michael "B" Bland, Sonny T., Tommy Barbarella, and Morris Hayes, plus Prince's go-to experts on dance/hip-hop productions, Junior Vasquez and Keith 'K.C.' Cohen. He invited UK rapper Monie Love, just recently signed by Warner Bros., to co-write Carmen's lyrics and contribute backing vocals. (In return, Prince created two tracks for Monie's second album, 76515 — named, coincidentally, after the 97260's opening line recorded the same month.) By April 1992, as Prince delivered the first configuration of Carmen's album, Warner Bros. and Paisley Park had already dropped her mediakit (see Images 3-4) and launched a massive promo campaign, with a press release hyping up 20-year-old starlet as "the brightest new arrival on today's musical horizon." In a curious marketing gimmick reported by in May 1992, the label exclusively serviced Carmen's yet-unreleased debut single, "Go-Go Dancer," to 370 strip clubs nationwide before a conventional DJ/radio push, allegedly to "."

On 25th May 1992, Carmen Electra debuted as a warm-up act on Prince's Diamonds & Pearls tour, performing live at Flanders Expo, Gent, Belgium. Carmen appeared with a few dancers and a seven-piece backing band: drummer Jamie Chez and bassist Jackie Lee Robinson, Greg Sain and Morris Hayes on keyboards, Jason Cameron on guitar, Jason Peterson Delaire on saxophone and keys, and backing vocalist Kathleen Johnson (who also contributed to her album). Evidently, Carmen Electra's act was poorly received. On 13th June 1992, after just twelve European shows, Prince kicked off the UK leg of the tour at Royal Dublin Society Showgrounds without Carmen, with Andrew Strong and Curtis Stigers opening instead. Electra returned twice during his mini-residency at Earls Court in London. Nevertheless, all the attempts to salvage Carmen's failing set, with Prince even replacing ½ of her band with NPG's "powerhouse" trio, Levi–Sonny T.–Michael B, went futile. After her final 19th June appearance in London, Prince ditched the warm-up gig for the remaining dates (except for local artists on a few stops, like The Pasadenas in Manchester and Indra in Paris).

On 18th June 1992, Carmen's debut single, 134907 12"/CD, came out on Warner Bros. Records/Paisley Park (coincidentally, just the day before Electra was fired from Prince's tour). The accompanying music video, directed by Randee St. Nicholas and produced by John Hopgood at Planet Pictures, premiered on MTV (later briefly airing on The Box pay-per-view cable channel). Merely days later, right after announcing the 29th July date for the upcoming release in the press and TV commercials, Warner Bros. suddenly postponed Carmen's album — allegedly, for further edits and reworks. By that point, the label had reportedly already spent over $1 million on PR and marketing. Meanwhile, Carmen Electra appeared as a guest rapper on The Continental, one of the tracks on Prince's 14th studio album, O)+>, released in October 1992. The same month, Electra's Everybody Get on Up music video got a "sneak peek" premiere on Playboy Television (somewhat mirroring the Go-Go Dancer "strip club" stunt, except almost four months ahead of the single). Also directed by Randee St. Nicholas, the video featured Carmen's new 10-piece dance troupe and The Hornheads ensemble; this early clip never appeared on public television, exclusively broadcast by The Box. In December 1992, Carmen Electra appeared in ABC's two-part TV special, lip-syncing "Everybody Get on Up" in Declan Lowney and Peter Sinclair's 3178982, while the NPG: Act I featured "The Continental" music video. (Co-directed by Randee with Sotera Tschetter and produced by Robert Borm at artist, the clip depicted seducing Electra over the phone while in bed with another girl at Tokyo's . An alternative shorter cut later appeared on VHS/Laserdisc, released by with / in August 1994.)

In February 1993, a week after 258441 12"/CD maxi-single, "190315" CD/Cassette finally came out. Just like other Paisley Park recent signees and many Prince mid-1990s productions for Warner Bros., Carmen's album barely got promoted at the launch and ultimately failed as "collateral damage" in a dramatic fallout between the artist and his record company. Even the bizarre CD artwork seemed like a "lowest common denominator" compromise between Prince and Warner. (In stark contrast to both Carmen's singles, the cover featured her barely recognisable, auteur'esque b&w photo, with dark pastel colours more suitable for Ingrid Chavez than the "sexiest female on the planet," as per album liner notes.) Such an underwhelming package hardly contributed to already miserable album sales. Excluding the sophomore single's minor "cameo" at №18 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music sales chart in March 1993, Carmen Electra was a resounding commercial flop. Likewise, a few professional reviews were scathingly negative, with Rupert Howe describing Carmen's record as a "loose-limbed glamourpuss," before concluding that "trippy Paisley logo has not always been equated with musical quality" in his ⅖-stars review in the March 1993 issue of Select Magazine (see Image 19). Released five months later, the third and final 134908 CD/2×12" maxi-single in August 1993 was limited to the domestic US market; likewise, Rebecca Blake's music video barely got any airtime.

In the final attempt to propel Electra's career independently from Warner Bros. Records, Prince gave Carmen a leading role in Glam Slam Ulysses, his "interactive play" staged by choreographer Jamie King at Glam Slam, Los Angeles (see Images 21-22). Billed as "Homer-Erotic Odyssey of Ulysses and his Gang, 'Strays of the World,' thru the Universe of Glam Slam," the show saw very little demand, cancelled after just a few runs in August–September 1993. Despite their professional collaboration failing, Carmen Electra remained close with Prince in a broadly rumoured "on-and-off" romantic relationship. (See the couple at his LA club, circa 1995, in Image 9). Furthermore, he revisited some of Electra's archival material, including Kirk Johnson's remix of "The Continental" in 1998, renamed Tell Me How U Want 2 B Done and featured on 355175 3×CD "official bootleg" on NPG Records. Even though she was never signed by NPG, Prince's 1800newfunk.com webstore carried Carmen's 12" singles and even exclusive merch, like 5855954 promo cassette and posters. In February 2001, the inaugural edition of Prince's NPG Music Club subscription-based MP3 series featured her previously unreleased "Go On (Witcha Bad Self) Dub Remix;" five months later, in August, the "Good Judy Girlfriend" album track appeared on NPG Ahdio Show #7.

In May 1996, Carmen Electra debuted in Playboy, returning in June 1997 both in the printed magazine and Playboy Home Video VHS/TV special, "Playboy: Cheerleaders," directed and written by Bob Kubilos and featuring Carmen's first non-Prince song, "2-4-6-8," written by Vic Hennegan. (Never released as an official single, the track appeared on several bootlegs, even Prince's 8518787 2×CD from Sabotage, despite no involvement by the artist.) In September 1997, Carmen replaced Pamela Anderson on the cast of 728294, a popular TV series created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and artist. Electra appeared in the entire 8th season, until May 1998, introduced to a much broader audience via the daytime PG-rated show, which ultimately solidified Carmen's acclaim as a Hollywood socialite (somewhat similar to other ex-Baywatch cast members, like Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Eggert, Yasmine Bleeth, Traci Bingham, and Kelly Packard). Meanwhile, Electra remained active as one of the frontier models at Playboy Entertainment Group, returning on the covers in June 1998, December 2000, April 2003, and January 2009 (as well as numerous franchised international editions). In December 2025, Carmen had an exclusive photoshoot to promote the "Playboy × Von Dutch" trucker hats collection by Lids. She hosted several reality TV and game shows, as well as award ceremonies, including a few projects at the "intersection" of X-rated and daytime programming, such as Ben Weinstein's Strip Poker Invitational (2004), Naked Women's Wrestling League (2005), and Carmen's Aerobic Striptease (2003–07) instructional DVD series. Between 1996 and 2011, she frequented primetime TV talk shows, appearing at least 5+ times on the label, with , , , , , and ; she was most extensively featured on 's talk show.

In November 2012, Carmen Electra made a brief music comeback on the pop/EDM scene, releasing her digital-only single on the Citrusonic label, 581739, produced by Bill Hamel and co-written by Britt Daley. The label's founder, Orlando Puerta, first met Carmen back in the early 1990s at Warner Bros., and now offered her a record deal. Carmen's debut dance-pop single reached №24 on the Billboard "Dance Club Songs" chart, and later re-emerged on Dance/Electronic Digital Songs at №14 (with 12,000 copies sold). Between May 2013 and October 2014, Carmen released three more digital singles, including 4788403, produced by SprngBrk/Floyd Bentley and featuring UK vocalist Mams Taylor; her third single, Werq, produced by Eddie Amador for Reservoir Media Music, ranked at №23 on Billboard Dance Club Songs.